Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31658062›Full record

Observational studyJournal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD2019

A Cross-Sectional Study of Blood Ethylmercury Levels and Cognitive Decline Among Older Adults and the Elderly in the United States.

David A Geier, Janet K Kern, Kristin G Homme, Mark R Geier

Open access · bronzeAbstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 39% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. The Epidemiological and Toxicological Intersection of Air Pollution and Dementia.Reviews of environmental contamination and toxicology · 2025
    Review
  2. Review
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

David A GeierInstitute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc., Silver Spring, MD, USA.
Janet K KernInstitute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc., Silver Spring, MD, USA.
Kristin G HommeInternational Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, ChampionsGate, FL, USA.
Mark R GeierInstitute of Chronic Illnesses, Inc., Silver Spring, MD, USA.
CONEM Autism Research · USGTx (United States) · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cognitive health is an emerging public health concern for the aging American population. Mercury (Hg) is a toxic element that can cause nervous system damage. This hypothesis-testing study evaluated the relationship between blood ethyl-Hg levels and cognitive decline in an older adult and elderly American population. A total of 1,821,663 weighted-persons between 60-80 years old with detectable blood ethyl-Hg levels within the 2011-2012 National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey were examined. Those persons with blood ethyl-Hg levels greater than the median were deemed the higher ethyl-Hg exposure group and those with ethyl-Hg levels less than the median were deemed the lower ethyl-Hg exposure group. Three tests were utilized to measure cognitive function: 1) Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease - Word List Learning (CERAD W-L) delayed recall test, 2) animal fluency test, and 3) Digit Symbol Substitution Test. Each cognitive test score was categorized as higher for those with scores greater than the median and lower for those with scores less than the median. Survey logistic regression modeling with covariates was used to analyze the data for the relationship between blood ethyl-Hg levels and cognitive function scores. Significantly increased risks for lower animal fluency test (odds ratio (OR) = 13.652, p = 0.0029) and CERAD W-L delayed recall test (OR = 6.401, p = 0.0433) scores were observed among the higher ethyl-Hg exposure group as compared to the lower ethyl-Hg exposure group. This study supports the hypothesis that increased ethyl-Hg exposure is associated with significant cognitive decline in older adult and elderly Americans.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overBiomarkersCognitive DysfunctionCross-Sectional StudiesEthylmercury CompoundsFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNutrition SurveysUnited StatesBiomarkersEthylmercury CompoundsEthylmercurymerthiolatemethylmercurythiomersal

Identifiers

PMID31658062
PMCPMC6918911
OpenAlexW2981427488

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.